Oh these boys and the joy they bring me...

I remember when we were pregnant and I thought about and dreamed about if we would have a baby boy or baby girl and we waited 9 long months to find out...I had that "mom intuition" the whole time and completely planned on welcoming a little boy and I would lay there and think about mama's little boy and all the cute pictures I wanted to take of my little boy with his big strong daddy.  Being that being pregnant allows a lot of laying in bed at 3am not being able to sleep I would lay there and picture their faces together, their possibly matching eyes...oh the insomnia of pregnancy! I always told everyone he's gonna look just like me but with daddy's eyes and even my mom said the same thing (see must be that "mom intuition").  And now I have my 2 boys and our little boy has his daddy's eyes! He is now 18 months and life with a toddler doesn't always leave open slots of taking all those pictures I planned at 3am but no matter when, where or how I get them in they always show how amazing and beautiful these boys are and how much love they share! Thank you Jesus for giving them to me.

The happier we'll be..

This morning we attended our Little Birdies class at Little Gym as we do every Saturday morning and as usual the classroom was what feels like a million degrees (well at least to me and my husband).  We always talk about how much fun we have in there watching our little one interacting, and playing with him but we also always talk about how its sooooo hot in there! So like every Saturday it was hot and as much as you're thinking this post is all about that hot room (laugh out loud) it's not. Today I cannot count how many times me and my husband looked at each other in awe of our child and hearing his teacher calling him "her helper". When it was time to sit down and sing our weekly song "The more we get together" I thought to myself what song is this and all of a sudden we began singing and every single word came to me with joy and it seemed I was enjoying the song as much (if not more than the kids).  I noticed no other parent knew it and I also noticed my little man swaying back and forth humming the tune. It's true "the more we get together the happier we'll be".  For the first time ever today as he got his little stamps upon leaving his class he looked up at his teacher and said "tank you" me and the hubbys eyes met once again and we both said "did he just say thank you" and in that one tiny little moment it seems he decided he was thirsty after all the ball playing and cleaning up, and he got a hold of someone else's sippy cup and got a nice little sip in...Oh yipeeee that's a first but we know won't be the last! All in all a successful Little Birdies class.

I love all fairytales but ours is my favorite!

My soulmate and my Best friend, I can't believe this January we'll be married 5 years! How is it that somedays it seems so brand new and yet some days I can't remember things before him? Well whatever it is I am so grateful God put us together and he taught both of us that sometimes you have to go through hell to get to heaven.. When we first got married we wanted a baby right away and we had so much sadness when it didn't happen right away. We prayed and prayed and all along God knew exactly when he wanted the littlest Allen to join us (after 2.5 years of trying) BUT we are beyond grateful now! With all the time, trials and tribulations we were faced we were able to build the foundation of our marriage and we were able to bring a child into our strong family. I love that when I tell my husband he looks cute  in the car he still blushes or when I come out in a brand new dress his jaw drops and he is speechless.. This is what it's all about.... and we aren't lucky we are deserving.

Being nice works!

Not going to be the post you expect but it's clearly the most fitting title... So tonight as I prepare for our 6:45 bath time I expect the worst because for the last month something has came over my son that has him terrified of the bath or all water for that matter..He will get in there just fine but he will not sit down and relax which can be quite the challenge and quite frankly it's scary (slippery). Every night I am very firm with him that he needs to sit down with my serious "mom look" and my stern voice which apparently never works. When I sit him down he gets furious and so sad so I choose my battles and wash him standing up and get him out as fast as I can. Just two months ago I couldn't get him out of there and we even had story time in the bath since it was the only place he sat still.. Well tonight as I sat on the floor next to the bath with washcloth in hand I smiled at him and casually said "can you please sit down honey" and he smiled back and sat down as if he was saying "thank you, being nice works mommy". He played, I washed, we read two books, brushed his teeth and when it was time to get out he said goodbye to the bath tub and that was that. Once again my son has taught me another lesson.
His first bath 18 months ago.

Helping each other.

 One of me and my husbands favorite things to do is go for drives and chat along the way, sometimes the chats are small talk and some times they are heart to heart but none the less we love to talk to one another. The other day he brought something up to me he said he feels like when he is home on his days off I make him feel like he has to do everything with our son since I do it 24/7. He said "I don't think you mean to do it but I think it just happens from being tired and wanting a break." I immediately got defensive because there is this part of me that for some reason feels attacked very easily but I chose to keep my mouth shut and continued to listen to him. He said to me "your 8 hour job is your shift and my 8 hour job is my shift and when were together as a family we should help each other, don't think of it like you've already been with our son all day or week." And he's right without even knowing I do that I really do! When his days off come the first thing I think and sometimes say is "daddy will get it for you". I am so fortunate that my full time career is my son and sometimes in the daily stress of tantrums and spitting out food I forget how great I have it.

Picky eater...

My little toddler will not eat meat and veggies! What happened to my little baby that ate spinach on a regular basis? I was so sure that I had started him out "right" but it seems we have reached the (hopeful) phase of spitting almost everything out.. With the help of some friends we're going to be buying V8 splash and making more (vegetable) smoothies. It wasn't that long ago that my 10 month old would sit in his highchair eating grilled onions and peas now he wants graham crackers every 5 seconds...Hmmmm wish me luck!! Could it be that he's tried cookie dough ice cream?? Hahaha